


Dying Sun

by Tarlan



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Community: fanfic100, Community: mcsheplets, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-10-30
Updated: 2008-10-30
Packaged: 2017-10-21 04:42:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John ponders on the future of all things...and his feelings for Rodney.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dying Sun

**Author's Note:**

> mcsheplets #31. Future and fanfic100 Prompt 046. Star.
> 
> TAG for THE LAST MAN, THE SHRINE and INQUISITION

He'd been to the future and the little he had seen was grim. Atlantis had survived another 48,000 years but like the Tower, she had been crumbling into ruin. Her defenses had been breached and the desert had started to encroach. Sand had filled her corridors and pushed against her stain-glass windows, shattering some. Her rooms were cast in red and orange from the glow of a dying sun and John knew the chance of anyone saving her before that star expanded, swallowing up the whole planet, was pretty remote. Even if they did come, how long would it have taken them to rebuild her shields and bring her hyperdrive back online so she could fly away?

His belief in _life finding a way_ meant he was pretty sure that some form of life had still existed at that time far in the future but whether it would be the current human race, a third evolution of their kind or some other unknown race that was currently still swimming in the primordial soup of a distant world was the question.

He wondered if the Ascended could travel through time as well as space, wondered if Daniel Jackson could answer that question.

John smiled wryly as he thought of Jackson as the Doctor from the television series that Rodney so adored. In particular when the Doctor had taken his companion first to watch the Earth die and then later to the very end of time when all the stars were slowly blinking out, one by one. Jack O'Neill would have been Jackson's companion...and Rodney would have been John's.

Part of him could not wrap his mind around the possibility of time ending, of everything ending. Yet a single man had accomplished that in one universe--in the other universe where John had stepped through the Stargate to find himself 48,000 years in the future. Rodney had lived in that universe for 25 years and then it had carried on for the rest of those 48,000 years before Rodney's work destroyed it by bringing John home and changing everything.

Had it simply ceased to exist? Were all those moments lost for every single being in that universe because of the actions of a single man? Could one person influence an entire universe?

Perhaps not immediately, he thought, but the rate of change would have been exponential over time as the differences rippled out. Many would have died who now lived, others would have lived but would now die, and the impact of those changes would turn the tiny ripple into a tsunami rolling outwards until the end of that universe.

He smiled as he took another sip of the whiskey. Perhaps Rodney was the Doctor, and he could be his companion to the end of time.

Another thought caught at him.

Rodney had taken a huge gamble when he had made his calculations on how to bring John home. After 48,000 years, Atlantis might not have even been in the same galaxy let alone on the same planet yet Rodney had simply assumed that she would be there. In hindsight, John wished he could have spent more time with that Rodney, wished he could have asked him all of those questions and so many more besides.

He drew on the cigar that Woolsey had handed to him earlier, letting the heady drug seep through his blood stream and into his brain, mellowing his view of the universe. Perhaps in this new time line Atlantis would not be left to die on some forgotten world circling a dying sun. Perhaps she would see her end sooner, destroyed by their enemies or, much later, lie forgotten under another alien ocean until her shields collapsed and her corridors corroded.

Perhaps the most important question though, was why Rodney would spend the rest of his natural life trying to solve the problem that would bring John home? Why he would sacrifice all that he'd ever claimed to want--the prestige of teaching at any of the best colleges or universities on Earth, the Nobel prize for Physics--just to have him back?

From what the older version of Rodney had told him, Keller had stopped him from starting on his calculations earlier. Instead, he'd started only after she'd died, ignoring her deathbed request to _live and be happy_. He shuddered, wondering if one version of John Sheppard had died alone in that long lost city in some other universe when Rodney failed to find him for whatever reason.

It was a terrifying thought and he was the first to admit, if only to himself, that he still had abandonment issues. Rodney had waited for him though. Somehow he had worked out a way to be there for him.

He sipped at the whiskey and leaned on the balcony, glass loose in one hand, cigar hanging in the other. Woolsey had surprised him with this offering but also with his decision to retire before either had finished. John had to admit that it felt strange to be in this position, recalling how his father had loved to finish the evening with a whiskey and a cigar. Strangely, this was one of his father's old habits that didn't make John want to run a mile in the opposite direction. Perhaps it was because there was something faintly nostalgic about it that went beyond his memories of his father, to the grandfather he had adored.

The opening door drew his attention and he glanced sideways as Rodney joined him at the balcony, arms leaning on the rail and eyes gazing out across this alien ocean. Apart from the occasional beer, John had never seen Rodney indulging in alcohol. Even on off world missions he tended to accept just the one potent cup of mead or moonshine, letting it last. John always supposed that Rodney didn't want to kill off too many of those precious brain cells just in case his IQ should fall below MENSA level. A few weeks ago, John would have laughed at the very thought but then an alien parasite had taken away all of Rodney's incredible intellect in just a matter of days, had left the vibrant man dull of eye and slow of mind.

For a moment, John wondered what he would have done if they had managed to get rid of the parasite but had caused irreparable brain damage in the process. As he glanced sideways at Rodney once more, John was shocked to realize that he would have made the same sacrifice that Rodney had made in that other time line. He would have given up all of this and the rest of his life just to take care of his friend. He had refused to say goodbye to Rodney out on the pier that night because he never intended to say goodbye--not ever.

"What?"

John blinked, suddenly aware that he was staring at Rodney in wide-eyed awe. Unable to recover quickly, he drew a blank at first and then smirked instead. "So...You and Keller."

Rodney looked confused momentarily. "Hum..." He gave one of his quirky smiles before preening. "Yes, well..." and then deflated. "Jennifer..." but for once Rodney seemed lost for words.

John smiled softly and raised his glass in a silent toast even though he hated the idea of Rodney with Keller. He still hadn't quite forgiven her for trying to stop them taking Rodney to Ronon's Shrine. If Jeannie hadn't been willing to take that risk with her brother's life then this amazing, special man would not be standing next to him right at this moment. Instead, John would have had to watch his friend succumb to the parasite growing in his brain; watched it destroy all that he held so dear.

"You don't like her," Rodney stated blandly.

"I'm sure she's a really nice girl."

"You didn't like Katie either." John was unable to resist the urge to squirm under that penetrating stare. "You don't think I'm good enough for them?"

"No!" John exclaimed, wondering where Rodney could have gained the idea that he wasn't good enough for the likes of Katie Brown or Keller. "You're too good...I mean...You're...you." John winced because that really hadn't come out the way he intended judging by the way Rodney's face had scrunched up in confusion.

The lines smoothed out and his eyes widened almost comically and then narrowed, voice tinged with sarcasm. "Wait! You think I deserve better than Katie and Jennifer? You have any names in particular? A short list of names perhaps from Sheppard's little black book?"

John smarted because this was so how he hadn't wanted this to go. "I'm just saying you deserve...whoever you want."

Rodney folded his arms. "And what if I wanted you?"

The lie was on the tip of John's tongue, the one that said he wasn't interested, but he couldn't get the words out. The lie should have come easy after years of pretending disinterest but this was Rodney.

"Oh God!" A finger stabbed hard into his chest not once but twice but with both hands full, John couldn't do much about it except glare back menacingly. Except that had never worked on Rodney. "YOU want me? That...that...that explains everything. Norina..."

"Norina?"

"Stealing the fruit for Sam..."

"You gave the basket to me."

"Only because you said it was lame."

"I did not."

"Yes, you did."

"Did not."

"Did...And not passing on messages from Katie?"

"What messages?" John ground out the cigar and shoved it into his top pocket.

"Telling me to meet Katie in the Botany lab."

"You hate the Botany lab...it brings up your allergies."

"AHA! So you admit that one."

John pushed aside the accusing finger with his free hand. "It was just the once, and I forgot."

"Three times."

John screwed up his face but decided he didn't feel guilty at all. "I'm the military commander of this city, not an errand boy, McKay."

Rodney gave a smug smile. "You didn't want to deliver those messages because you didn't want me to meet up with Katie."

"And I was right! At the first sign of a panic attack she dumped you."

It was Rodney's turn to squirm this time. Even he couldn't deny that his marriage proposal had backfired spectacularly that day due to him flying into panic mode when the city locked down into quarantine, leaving him trapped in the Botany lab with Katie.

"Why don't you like Jennifer?"

John sighed. The whiskey warming his gut had also seemed to short circuit his ability to lie. "Because I don't trust her with your life." There, he had said it.

Rodney seemed affronted at the slight against Keller. "She's an excellent doctor."

John felt an urge to refute that but, in truth, she was a good doctor. Just a little narrow-minded for someone sitting in an Ancient flying city in an alien galaxy. "I don't trust her to make you happy."

Rodney stared at him for a long time, dissecting him with his eyes. The hard blue gaze softened.

"I trust _you_ ," Rodney stated softly. "Even when...I trusted you."

John placed the glass on the floor and stepped closer to the man who had spent a lifetime trying to find a way to bring him home. "You gave up a career, a Nobel prize. You gave up friends, the chance for a normal life with family...the rest of your life. For me."

He saw Rodney swallow hard and look away. "That wasn't me...that was.."

"It was you," he whispered intently, forcing Rodney to look back at him.

Each sentence had taken him that much closer until he was standing toe to toe with Rodney, looking deep into his eyes and feeling Rodney's warm breath against his face. He knew his own breath had to smell of the cigar and whiskey but Rodney stood his ground. All he had to do was lean in another inch, let their lips touch but John wasn't sure he could cross that chasm lying between them.

The electricity passing through his lips at that first touch tingled for long seconds after Rodney pulled away, face alive with hope and fear. John couldn't have that. He couldn't stand to see Rodney doubting himself, doubting them, and he reached out to grasp Rodney, recalling the last time he had tightened his grip on Rodney's arms. That time Rodney had been frightened, had come running to him in the middle of the night in fear. This time it was to stop Rodney from running away.

When their lips met for a second time, John wanted to make sure he chased all of those fears and doubts away forever. He leaned into the kiss, deepening it quickly, wanting to taste all that he'd considered forbidden until this moment. It wasn't enough and he felt his own whimper of need reverberate between them as Rodney's arms closed tight around him.

Suddenly he was at arms' length, gasping for breath and desperate to feel those lips and arms again but Rodney was babbling something, words that slowly gained meaning.

"Not here. Not here."

He nodded, gathering his composure and stepping back. Not here. Not here where anyone could walk in on them at any moment.

"My room." Rodney walked away quickly, not waiting for a response. The balcony door closed softly behind him, leaving John alone with his thoughts and the night.

John felt a little silly sliding inside Rodney's room ten minutes later, wondering if he was making a grave mistake now he'd had time to calm down but one look at Rodney convinced him otherwise. The vulnerability in soft blue eyes almost broke John and he stepped forward to grasp the wringing hands and hold them tight.

"I want this. I want you."

Rodney took a long moment just to stare at him, eyes flicking over his face, trying to read his true intentions. Another kiss took care of that, and he felt Rodney melt against him as all the tension left his body, a shuddering sigh sweeping through both of them.

It seemed like a lifetime since he had done this, since he had slowly stripped for another man, sating his own curiosity as his intended lover kicked off shoes and pulled off his shirt. The BDUs weren't baggy enough to conceal the arch of hard flesh and John stepped in to lay his palm against Rodney's erection. Blue eyes closed in pleasure, hips pushing forward against his hand in silent demand for more and this surprised him as he thought Rodney would be as loud and pushy in bed as he was in the rest of his life.

"Off, off, off."

John laughed softly as Rodney reasserted himself, hands scrabbling at the zippers for both of their BDUs with unsurprising agility. John had seen those hands remain steady even while working under fire with Wraith drones closing around them and darts screaming through the air above them. The BDUs dropped from his narrow hips easily to pool on the ground at his feet but he had the pleasure of drawing Rodney's down over the sweet curve of his ass, hands following to glide over warm, silken flesh as he pushed the boxers aside too. They stepped out of their remaining clothes, moving together, naked flesh to naked flesh, cocks rubbing side by side, pressed against firm bellies. His hands were still cupped over the generous yet firm ass cheeks, mouth locked to Rodney's as Rodney's hands cradled John's head, fingers tangling in his hair.

Too long denied, there was no finesse. They surged against each other, gasping out their need in hard breaths that the other eagerly captured, swallowing cries of passion as the liquid heat of their release smeared between them.

Later, when cleaned and lethargic, they lay together on Rodney's more substantial bed, bodies pressed close.

If history repeated itself in some form then in 48,000 years time, the walls of this great city would slowly crumble to dust beneath a dying sun, long after he and Rodney had left this plane of existence.

If John could leave behind some legacy then it would be to fill these walls with beautiful memories of the love he shared here with Rodney...a love that would last to the end of time.

THE END


End file.
